4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313134393434 English NRW_DS109834 Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en 2026-03-03T12:51:27.25Z NRW 1.0 wel British National Grid (EPSG::27700) Intertidal Monitoring of Sediment Communities in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) 2009 Intertidal Monitoring of Sediment Communities in Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) 2009 Gwaith Monitro Rhynglwnaol ar Gymunedau Gwaddodion yn ACA Bae Caerfyrddin ac Aberoedd 2009 2009 CCW / ASML Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC transect survey MRCCW16300000024 2012-06-30 NRW_DS114944 The Habitats Directive establishes that the management of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) should aim to achieve the favourable conservation status of habitat and species features listed within its Annex I and Annex II. For SACs in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) is therefore required to report on a regular basis on whether features are in favourable conservation status. Carmarthen Bay SAC was designated for five Annex I intertidal habitat features: Estuaries; Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide; Large shallow inlets and bays; Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand; Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco- Puccinellietalia maritimae). Specific areas of interest include the range of intertidal sediment communities in the bay and the monitoring aimed to collect core samples along transects established in previous years. Data is captured to support reporting on conservation status of the piddock feature. All survey completed by professional and experienced marine field surveyors. Data quality and confidence considered high. Piddocks can be described as a biotope that occurs on circalittoral soft rock, such as soft chalk or clay, most often in moderately exposed tide-swept conditions. As soft chalk and firm clay are often too soft for sessile filter-feeding animals to attach and thrive in large numbers, an extremely impoverished epifauna results on upward-facing surfaces, although vertical faces may be somewhat richer. The rock is sufficiently soft to be bored by bivalves. The Habitats Directive establishes that the management of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) should aim to achieve the favourable conservation status of habitat and species features listed within its Annex I and Annex II. For SACs in Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) is therefore required to report on a regular basis on whether features are in favourable conservation status. Carmarthen Bay SAC was designated for five Annex I intertidal habitat features: Estuaries; Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide; Large shallow inlets and bays; Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand; Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco- Puccinellietalia maritimae). Specific areas of interest include the range of intertidal sediment communities in the bay and the monitoring aimed to collect core samples along transects established in previous years. Data is captured to support reporting on conservation status of the piddock feature. All survey completed by professional and experienced marine field surveyors. Data quality and confidence considered high. Piddocks can be described as a biotope that occurs on circalittoral soft rock, such as soft chalk or clay, most often in moderately exposed tide-swept conditions. As soft chalk and firm clay are often too soft for sessile filter-feeding animals to attach and thrive in large numbers, an extremely impoverished epifauna results on upward-facing surfaces, although vertical faces may be somewhat richer. The rock is sufficiently soft to be bored by bivalves. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Countryside Council for Wales (CCW). Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Group Maes y Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@ccw.gov.uk http://www.ccw.gov.uk Aquatic Survey and Monitoring Ltd (ASML) Whitfield Brow, Bollihope, Frosterley, Weardale, Co. Durham, DL13 2SZ, England tom@aquatic-environments.co.uk http://www.marineseen.com/aquatic_survey_and_monitoring.htm Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en Habitats and biotopes Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme intertidal Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries SAC marine sediments (coastal sediments) (intertidal sediments) (subtidal sediments) sediment infauna NRW Thesaurus 2025-01-08 geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords Habitat characterisation Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2024-06-19 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml Monitoring IPSV Subjects List 2020-11-18 geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.subjects The following data is considered OS derived data and is therefore jointly owned by NRW and the Ordnance Survey. NRW may release, publish or disseminate this data freely; providing recipients are made aware of use restrictions (See general use restrictions). no limitations © CNC/NRW and © Crown copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Natural Resources Wales, AC0000849444 Third parties seeking to re-use this data require a Licence issued by NRW. It allows re-use, reproduction and dissemination in any format or medium but only for non-commercial purposes, according to the terms and conditions of the Licence. Those seeking commercial re-use require a commercial licence available from the OS. English biota SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 benthic boundary layer ABERTAWE - SWANSEA SIR GAERFYRDDIN - CARMARTHENSHIRE -4.42229782 -4.13213629 51.62046149 51.7754583 2009-09-20 2009-09-22 Intertidal SAC monitoring Carmarthen Bay SAC September 2009 Documents [A] Digital versions of the contract report: Microsoft Word document(s); and an equivalent Adobe Portable Document Format version. [B] MapInfo GIS layers in MapInfo Native format (Tables): - Transect and core locations [C] Excel spreadsheets with transect physical and species data [D] Photographs of the area, sites, samples and quadrats. [E] Marine Recorder file [MRCCW16300000024] Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 This dataset has not been assessed for conformance to the referenced INSPIRE regulation. false Two transects were sampled using criteria for the Water Framework infaunal quality index tool. The sampling is currently 3 x replicates at 5 stations in each location. Three replicate cores (0.1 m2) and a sample for Particle Size Analysis were collected at five stations, located by GPS, on each transect. The cores were sieved in situ, using a 0.5 mm sieve, and the species present were recorded. A list was also made of species conspicuous at the sediment surface within a 5 m radius of the sample station. The percentage cover of standing water, the depth of the black layer, and a brief description of the station was also recorded. Twenty transects were established in 2004 mainly covering sediment biotopes but also including some rocky habitats. The transect survey has only been completed once, although core sampling has been repeated at some of the locations. In 2008, numerous stations were revisited, but since then, only Crofty and Llansteffan, both of which were included in the original survey, have been revisited due to limited resources for collecting samples. Two transects were sampled using criteria for the Water Framework infaunal quality index tool. The sampling is currently 3 x replicates at 5 stations in each location. Three replicate cores (0.1 m2) and a sample for Particle Size Analysis were collected at five stations, located by GPS, on each transect. The cores were sieved in situ, using a 0.5 mm sieve, and the species present were recorded. A list was also made of species conspicuous at the sediment surface within a 5 m radius of the sample station. The percentage cover of standing water, the depth of the black layer, and a brief description of the station was also recorded. Twenty transects were established in 2004 mainly covering sediment biotopes but also including some rocky habitats. The transect survey has only been completed once, although core sampling has been repeated at some of the locations. In 2008, numerous stations were revisited, but since then, only Crofty and Llansteffan, both of which were included in the original survey, have been revisited due to limited resources for collecting samples.